A survey of measurement and evaluation tools for urban forest gardens: impact of the Rahma Edible Food Forest Garden in Syracuse, NY
G. Transitioning to a Viable Society: Poster number: G15
Frank Cetera, The Alchemical Nursery Project Inc, United States
Robert Coville, The Alchemical Nursery Project, Inc., United States
The Rahma Edible Food Forest Snack Garden is an urban agroforestry landscape located on 1/5th-acre of private land on the Southside of Syracuse , NY. The current 10 year old Rahma landscape was developed from an empty lot with few pre-existing species other than grasses and two serviceberry trees (Amelanchier sp.). Parts of the original funding for project expenses were obtained in the form of a $5,000 grant from the Onondaga Lake PArtnership in recognition of the site’s potential to provide ecosystem services including the slow down of rainwater infiltration into the city’s combined sewer overflow system. In 2019, a preliminary environmental benefits assessment was conducted using the modeling programs i-Tree Hydro, i-Tree MyTree and i-Tree Design – a suite of free computer programs from the US Forest Service that simulate the physical processes and relationships of the ecosystem on site. Continued research is currently being conducted to identify other assessment tools that can quantify additional benefits of the site beyond the ecological such as social, economic, and health components. The tools selected will be tested on the Rahma Edible Forest Snack garden and the impact benefits summarized. The selected tools will be collated into a toolkit geared towards urban agroforestry projects that will allow citizen scientists and community stewards to measure benefits across a holistic range of socio-economic factors. The results of the Rahma case study data will be included in the toolkit to demonstrate the use of the selected tools. Such measurements can be used to lobby decision-makers and stakeholders at both community and governmental levels for the provision of funding and support to increase urban agroforestry landscape implementation towards transitioning to a more viable society.
